Article holder

ABSTRACT

An article holder having general utility for receiving and securely holding various articles, objects or other entities in a secure and safe manner. The article holder includes a wall, base or other supporting panel-like structure having an opening therein having a periphery defined by a plurality of circumferentially spaced segments forming a receiver for an article, object or other entity together with resilient means which resists radial expansion of the segments and exerts radial inward force on the segments for secure engagement with an article, object or other entity inserted into the receiver defined by the circumferentially spaced segments. The shape or configuration, size and materials from which the article holder is constructed may be varied depending upon the end use requirements.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of my co-pending applicationU.S. Ser. No. 858,166 filed May 1, 1986 for SOCKET ORGANIZER, now U.S.Pat. No. 4,711,353, issued Dec. 27, 1987.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field Of The Invention

The present invention generally relates to an article holder havinggeneral utility for receiving and securely holding various articles,objects or other entities in a secure and safe manner. The articleholder includes a wall, base or other supporting panel-like structurehaving an opening therein having a periphery defined by a plurality oflaterally extending segments forming a receiver for an article, objector other entity together with resilient means which resists radialexpansion of the segments and exerts radial inward force on the segmentsfor secure engagement with an article, object or other entity insertedinto the receiver defined by the circumferentially spaced segments. Theshape or configuration, size and materials from which the article holderis constructed may be varied depending upon the end use requirements.

2. Information Disclosure Statement

Various prior patents exist which relate to devices which supportarticles, objects and other entities in various manners depending uponend use requirements. The prior patents of record in Ser. No. 858,166disclose devices of this type known to applicant. However, none of theprior patents disclose structural features equivalent to the structuralfeatures of the present invention. A separate information disclosurestatement will be filed in this case.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide an article holder forreceiving and securely retaining an article, object or other entityincorporating the generally tubular receiver formed by a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced and radially expandable and contractiblesegments provided with resilient means associated therewith forresisting outward radial expansion and biasing the segments radiallyinwardly towards an innermost position for securely engaging andretaining various articles, objects or other entities securely in thereceiver within a size and shape range commensurate with the size andshape of the segments and resilient means.

Another object of the invention is to provide an article holder inaccordance with the preceding object in which the transverseconfiguration of the receiver may vary depending upon the article,object or other entity to be received for securely and resilientlyengaging the periphery of the article, object or other entity over asubstantial portion of the peripheral surface area.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an articleholder in accordance with the preceding objects in which the receiverincludes a tapering portion at one or both ends to facilitate insertionof an article, object or other entity into either end of the receiverwith the segments providing surface area contact with the article,object or other entity inserted into the receiver for securely retainingthe article, object or entity in place.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an article holder inaccordance with the preceding objects in which the receiver includes alimit stop to limit insertion of an article, object or other entity intothe receiver together with a structure for elevating an article, objector other entity in relation to the receiver to provide optimum accessthereto.

Still another important object of the present invention is to provide anarticle holder in accordance with the preceding objects in which thesegments defining the receiver have various structural features toenable the segments to be utilized in combination with any number ofsimilar segments or a single segment may be provided in some instancesto effectively receive and retain various types of articles, objects orother entities with the article holder preferably being constructed ofplastic material although other materials may be utilized with theresilient means including memory characteristics of the plastic materialas well as various types of associated resilient structures.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an article holder inaccordance with the preceding objects consisting of one or more segmentsdefining a receiver and resilient means associated with the segments forsecurely receiving and retaining various articles, objects and otherentities with or without article stops and elevators in which thestructure is relatively simple and easy to use for various purposes andconstructed with long-life expectancy with minimum upkeep, repair andmaintenance.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the article holder ofthe present invention for receiving a square or other polygonalcontainer or other entity.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along section line 2--2 onFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal, sectional view taken along section line 3--3 onFIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the articleholder.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal, sectional view of the structure of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a transverse, sectional view of the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a perspective of another embodiment of the article holderwhich includes an article ejection device.

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of the article holder of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a horizontal, sectional view of the embodiment of the articleholder illustrated in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the invention inwhich articles can be partially ejected for access.

FIG. 11 is a vertical sectional view taken along section line 11--11 onFIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a horizontal sectional view taken along section line 12--12on FIG. 11.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now specifically to FIGS. 1-3, the article holder illustratedtherein is designated by reference numeral 10 and includes a wall,panel, base or the like 12 which in the embodiment illustrated is in theform of a top wall of a hollow structure which also includes aperipheral wall 14 and a bottom wall 16 to define a container orreceptacle which includes an article receiver generally designated bythe numeral 18 therein with the receiver including a plurality ofgenerally parallel segments 20 which are provided with free side edges22 which define slots or longitudinal slits 24 to form a receiver for anarticle 26 which in this embodiment of the invention is disclosed as asquare bottle or container but which may be of any configuration orsize. The upper end of each segment 20 is provided with a laterallyextending flange 28 that is integral with one or more of the wallsegments 20. As illustrated, two adjacent segments 20 are integral witha flange 28 and the opposed two segments 20 are integral with an opposedflange 28 with a diagonal slot 30 being formed between the flanges 28with the slot 30 being continuous with opposed slots 24. It is pointedout that each of the receiver wall segments 20 may be provided with anintegral flange and the number of wall segments and flanges and theconfiguration of the wall segments and flanges may vary depending uponthe shape, size and configuration of the article 26.

The bottom of each receiver wall segment 20 includes an inwardlyextending triangular flange 32 and an outwardly extending triangularflange 34. The inwardly extending flanges 32 form a limit for insertionof the article 26 into the receiver 18 inasmuch as these flanges form astop to be engaged by the inner end or bottom of the article 26. Theoutwardly extending flanges 34 as well as the inwardly extending flanges32 are disposed adjacent the inner surface of the bottom wall 16 with itbeing pointed out that the structure may or may not include a bottomwall 16 but the flanges 32 and 34 would operate in the same manner.

A resilient means generally designated by numeral 36 interconnects theflanges 34 in order to resiliently resist outward movement of the wallsegments 20 and to resiliently bias the wall segments 20 radiallyinwardly.

The resilient structure 36 includes a pair of generally U-shaped wiresprings 38 each of which is provided with a depending end 40 received ina socket or aperture 42 in opposed flanges 34 as illustrated in FIG. 3.The U-shaped spring 38 engaging opposed pairs of flanges 34 resilientlybiases the opposed flanges 34 inwardly thus resiliently biasing opposedreceiver wall segments 20 inwardly into frictional gripping engagementwith the periphery of the article 26 with the wall segments 20 havingsubstantial surface-to-surface engagement with the article 26.

The receiver 18 may be used as a general utility article holder forvarious items and will securely hold and retain various articles. Theresilient contraction means provides a structure which enables the wallsegments to conform to the configuration and contours of the article 26by resisting outward radial movement of the wall segments 20 and biasthe wall segments 20 inwardly to insure surface area contact to increasefrictional forces and pressure forces placed on the article for secureholding. While a square or rectangular article is shown, the basicstructure may be utilized in various shapes, sizes and configurations tohold various items which include but are not limited to small hand toolssuch as wrench sockets, small medicine bottles, medical vials, testtubes and many other uses in which articles are desired to be held inassembled relation to other articles by a secure and firm holdingarrangement. The receiver 18 will securely hold, retain, suspend,protect and resist shock and vibration for various articles which mayvary in size, weight and configuration such as but not limited to bombfuses, rockets, mortars, shells, torpedos and other explosive devices inwhich protection of the article is quite important.

The resilient spring arrangement 36 illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 includesU-shaped spring wires which resiliently engage and bias opposed receiverwall segments radially inwardly. It is pointed out that various springarrangements or resilient arrangements may be employed including endlessrubber bands, formed wire springs interconnecting adjacent wall segmentsat any point along the length thereof, coil springs connecting adjacentwall segments or completely encircling all of the wall segments, springstrips of various configurations connecting adjacent wall segments oropposed wall segments with various arrangements being provided toconnect the resilient arrangements to the wall segments includingprojecting pins on the wall segments, apertures or sockets in the wallsegments for receiving projections on the resilient arrangements andrecesses or notches in ribs on the wall segments to receive and positionthe resilient arrangements in order to retain them in positionperipherally of the wall segments and to retain them longitudinally inrelation to the wall segments.

The embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 4-6 is generally designated byreference numeral 50 and includes a double tapered construction andincludes a generally cylindrical body 52 having an end cap 54 on eachend thereof which may be attached to the body 52 in any suitable mannersuch as by frictional gripping, screw threaded arrangement, glue orother permanent arrangements with each end cap including a centralopening 56 to define an entrance from either end for an article 58 suchas a wrench socket or any other article to be retained. Internally ofthe body 52 is a receiver generally designated by the numeral 60 whichincludes a plurality of wall segments 62 spaced from each other andseparated from each other by a slot 64 which extends from end-to-end ofthe segments 62. The outer end portion of each segment 62 is inclinedoutwardly as at 66 so that the top and bottom portions of the segments62 diverge from each other thus forming a double tapered receiver 60. Aresilient arrangement 68 encircles the wall segments 62 and may be inthe form of an endless resilient member such as a rubber band 70 whichwill resist outward radial movement of the segments 62 in relation toeach other and bias the segments radially inwardly. To prevent inwardcollapse of the segments 62, each outer end thereof is provided with aninwardly facing groove 72 which receives an internal spring ring 74which may be a split ring that resiliently engages the inwardly facinggroove 72 in order to retain the outer ends of the segments 62 so thatthe edges of the slots 64 will be retained in alignment with each otherand the segments will define a peripheral wall of segmented constructionthat is biased inwardly by the resilient arrangement 68 for securelyholding the article 58 within the interior of the receiver 60.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 7-9 is generallydesignated by the numeral 80 and includes a body 82 which may be ofcylindrical hollow construction or any other shape and configuration.The hollow body includes a receiver generally designated by the numeral84 therein which includes a plurality of segments 86 which are joined ina continuous peripheral body 88 at one end thereof or the segments maybe separated throughout their length by slots 90 for receiving andgripping an article 92 positioned therein which may be in the form of ashell having a tapered upper end. A resilient arrangement 94 engages theperiphery of the segments 86 and may be in the form of resilient bandsor other spring devices engaging notches formed in ribs on the exteriorof the segments 86 to bias the segments 86 into surface-to-surfacefrictional engagement with the article 92. In this embodiment of theinvention, an end cap 96 is provided with a neck 98 which receives aclosure cap 100 having a projecting closure members 102 and 103telescoped into and telescoped over the neck 98. The other end of thebody includes an end cap 104 connected to the body 82 with a piston 106positioned interiorly of the bottom of the body 82 and the piston 106 isprovided with a plunger or rod 108 projecting through the end cap 104 sothat when the plunger or rod 108 is moved inwardly, it will move thepiston 106 inwardly and move the article 92 upwardly or longitudinallyin the receiver 84 for ejection out of the opposite end of the body 82when the cap 100 has been removed.

In the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 4-9, both ends or either end ofthe housing and receiver may be provided with a closure member similarto the closure member 100 illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 with suitableseal means being provided t maintain the environmental integrity of theinterior of the holder. Also, the inner retaining ring as designated byreference numeral 74 may be provided in both ends or either end of thereceiver. Also, the rod 108 in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8 maybe provided with a sealed relationship to the end cap 104. Anothersignificant use of the invention is the incorporation of the receiverconcept into beverage supporting trays such as those used on the centerhump of an automobile so that the resiliently biased segments willfrictionally grip the periphery of the bottom portion of a beveragecontainer to prevent the container from tipping over but yet enablingthe beverage container to be easily removed to consume the contentsthereof. This is especially useful when the vehicle operator purchasesan open topped container of coffee or similar beverages at a conveniencestore, fast food outlet or the like and immediately turns sharp cornerswhen exiting from the establishment at which the beverage was purchasedand when entering entrance ramps to interstate highways and the like.

FIGS. 10-12 illustrate another embodiment of the invention in the formof a holder for lipstick, eyebrow pencils, mascara and other similarcosmetic products which are normally used when a person applies make-up.The containers for these products are usually placed on a dresser, in atray or other similar holder and they frequently fall over due to theirsmall cross-sectional configuration. This embodiment of the articleholder is generally designated by the numeral 110 and includes agenerally cylindrical housing 112 which may be of any suitableconfiguration which includes an upper cylindrical member 113 and a lowercylindrical member 111 oriented in telescopic relation. The uppercylindrical member 113 includes a top wall 114 having a plurality ofopenings 116 therein with each of the openings including a receiverstructure 118 which includes the same concept of biased segments forfrictionally gripping various articles in the form of cosmeticcontainers 120 with the receivers being of different shapes and sizes toeffectively grip the containers over large surface areas but stillenabling the containers to be readily removed therefrom and reinsertedback into the receivers through the openings 116.

The receivers 118 are provided with an open lower end 122 so that thecontainers 120 can be pushed downwardly beyond the lower end of thereceivers 118 so that the upper ends of the containers can be orientedflush with the top wall 114 in some instances and, in some instances,the containers will still project above the top wall 114 even wheninserted completely into the receivers. The lower cylindrical member isprovided with a bottom wall 124 which will contact the lower ends of thecontainers 120 when the upper housing 113 is pushed downwardly andtelescoped downwardly over the lower housing 111 which movement willcause the containers 120 to move to a position above the top wall 114 orto an elevated position compared to their original position. In order toguide the housing 113 in relation to the housing 111, the housing 113includes a plurality of pins 126 which slide in slots 130 formed in thelower housing 111. Various other arrangements may be provided forguiding these structures including ribs and grooves, various fasteningarrangements and the like. A plurality of spring assemblies 132 areinterposed between the housings 111 and 113 with each spring assemblyincluding a support projection 134 having an upwardly opening recess 136receiving a generally U-shaped spring guide 138 having a coilcompression spring 140 mounted thereon and extending above theprojection 134. The upper end of the guide 138 includes a resilientbumper 141 engaged with the under surface of the top wall 114 of the tophousing 113. Thus, as the top housing 113 is pushed downwardly, thesprings 140 will be compressed and, at the same time, the lower ends ofthe containers 120 will engage the upper surface of the bottom wall 124and be simultaneously ejected upwardly in relation to the receivers 118so that when the top housing 113 is released and it returns to itsuppermost position, the containers 120 will be retained in theirelevated or ejected position so that the upper ends thereof are readilyaccessible or more accessible to being gripped and removed by a personusing the device. This also assures that the cosmetic containers will beretained in an orderly manner and when a particular container has beenremoved for use, it can be readily reinserted in the same receiver fromwhich it was removed.

The bottom wall 124 may include a recessed downwardly facing mirror 142which can be utilized when the device is inverted since the receiverswill retain the containers in place. Also, the bottom wall 124 mayinclude an upwardly offset portion 144 to engage shorter containers andto form a recess to receive the mirror 142. This enables the holder 110to be used as a portable unit such as a cosmetic carrying case in whichevent a mirror will be readily available regardless of where thecosmetics are used. Also, this assembly can be incorporated into acosmetic case in the form of a removable tray or the like so that thecosmetic case can utilize a bottom area for hair sprays, hair dryers andother similar equipment with the cosmetic holder being incorporated intoa removable tray positioned above the stored hair spray, hair dryer,curling iron and the like. This unit also can be mounted in variouspositions in the bathroom such as on the top of a toilet flush tank,countertop or any other supporting surface to maintain the cosmeticcontainers in secure and readily available position.

In all embodiments of the invention, the shape, size and configurationof the components may be varied and the material from which thecomponents is constructed is preferably plastic having memory andelastic characteristics although various dissimilar materials may beused in making the holder. The various components may be connected andassembled in various arrangements either as permanent components orreplaceable components as may be deemed appropriate.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and, accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:
 1. An article holder comprising anarticle receiver including a plurality of radially expandable segmentsfor engaging opposed surface areas of an article received in thereceiver, resilient means contacting the segments for resilientlybiasing the segments into contact with the article to securely hold thearticle, said segments corresponding in shape and size to the size ofthe article for engaging the article over a substantial portion of theperipheral surface.
 2. The article holder as defined in claim 1 whereinsaid segments have one end connected to a member and defining an openingin the member through which the article is inserted into the receiver.3. The article holder as defined in claim 2 wherein said resilient meansincludes spring wire means engaging opposed segments to resist outwardradial movement of the opposed segments and bias the opposed segmentsinwardly.
 4. The article holder as defined in claim 3 wherein saidspring wires are of U-shaped configuration and have end portionsengaging the outer portions of opposed segments and a central portionoriented outwardly of the other segments of the receiver.
 5. An articleholder comprising an article receiver including a plurality of radiallymovable segments engaging opposed surface areas of an article receivedin the receiver, resilient means contacting the segments and resilientlybiasing the segments into contact with the article to securely hold thearticle, said receiver being disposed interiorly of a peripheral wallwith the segments being completely free from each other with thesegments including diverging end portions, means engaging the interiorof the end portions of the segments to retain the segments alongsideeach other and prevent inward collapse thereof, said resilient meansbeing disposed peripherally of the central portion of the segments andengaging the outer surface thereof.
 6. The article holder as defined inclaim 5 wherein said segments are disposed in a peripheral body having alength generally equal to the length of the segments and an end capengaging each end of the body and having a central opening with the endcaps retaining the assembled segments in the body.
 7. The article holderas defined in claim 1 wherein said receiver includes a piston movablypositioned in one end thereof and including a rod connected to thepiston for moving the piston through the receiver to eject an articleheld by the receiver.
 8. The article holder as defined in claim 7wherein said receiver is retained in a cylindrical body with an end capat one end of the cylindrical body receiving the rod for positioning andguiding the rod during reciprocation of the piston in relation to thereceiver, the other end of the body including an opening provided with aprotective closure member for closing the interior of the cylindricalbody and protecting the article therein with the closure being removableto enable ejection of the article from the receiver.
 9. The articleholder as defined in claim 1 wherein said article receiver is mounted inan upper housing which telescopically engages a lower housing, springmeans biasing the housings apart, guide means guiding the housings inrelation to each other during telescopic movement, said receiver havingan open end to enable a container to be inserted into the receiver fromthe upper end of the upper housing and project below the lower end ofthe receiver for engagement with tee lower housing when the upperhousing is depressed downwardly to eject the container from the receiverso that the upper end thereof is positioned above the top of the upperhousing for access with the container being retained in its elevatedposition when the spring means returns the upper housing to its originalposition.
 10. The article holder as defined in claim 9 wherein saidupper housing includes a plurality of openings of various sizes andshapes with each of the openings having a receiver associated therewithfor receiving a plurality of variously shaped and sized cosmeticcontainers with some of the containers having a length for disposal ofthe upper end of the container generally flush with the top of the upperhousing for storage but being projected upwardly therefrom for accesswhen the upper housing is depressed.
 11. The article holder as definedin claim 10 wherein said guide means includes a pin and slot arrangementin said housings, said spring means including a plurality of springsinterposed between the housings, each spring including a longitudinalportion guided by a guide member that is vertically adjustably connectedto the lower housing.
 12. The article holder as defined in claim 9wherein the lower housing includes a recessed mirror in the lowersurface thereof to provide a mirror regardless of the place of use ofthe holder.
 13. The article holder as defined in claim 9 wherein saidhousings are of cylindrical configuration and provided with a pluralityof receivers spaced circumferentially therein with at least one receiverpositioned centrally of the housings.
 14. The structure as defined inclaim 5 wherein each of said segments is elongated and provided with aninwardly offset central portion, said resilient means including aresilient band disposed peripherally of the exterior of the inwardlyoffset central portions of the segments.
 15. The structure as defined inclaim 5 wherein said peripheral wall includes end caps engaging each endof the peripheral wall and retaining the segments in the peripheral wallbe preventing axial displacement of the segments.
 16. An article holdercomprising a cylindrical open ended body having an end cap on each endthereof, a plurality of independent article gripping segments within thebody with the segments having a length generally equal to the length ofthe body, said segments being separated from each other by continuouslongitudinal slots, each of said segments including an inwardly offsetcentral portion having a resilient band disposed peripherally againstthe outer surface of the central offset portions of the segments thusbiasing the segments inwardly and resisting radially outward expansionthereof, said end caps retaining the segments in the body against axialdisplacement, and resilient means extending peripherally of the interiorof the segments and engaging each of the segments to prevent inwardcollapse thereof when the segments are not grippingly engaging anarticle, the outer surface of the end portions of the segments beingradially confined by the cylindrical body and being constructed ofresilient material with the inwardly offset central portion adapted togrippingly engage an article inserted into the article holder.